My thoughts on the future of textbooks and the delivery of educational content. Discussing ideas surrounding content history, delivery methods, and disintermediation.
2. Today's Agenda
• How The Mighty Have Fallen
• From Inaccessible to Accessible
• The Changing Model of Textbooks
• Open Source Software
• Creative Commons Resources
• iBooks Author
Friday, March 2, 12
8. A Brief History
(Why do we print books?)
• "Keeping" Information
• Printing Information
• Transporting Information
• Value of Information
Friday, March 2, 12
16. Why Textbooks
Are Doomed
• Textbooks are finite, linear, and rote.
• It is NOT difficult to create and publish a
book. Lulu, iPhoto and other services.
• Text and images are ridiculously cheap to
transmit digitally.
• iBooks Author
Friday, March 2, 12
17. Textbook "Facts"
• $600.00 per pupil spending on textbooks.
• Outdated once they are printed.
• Not necessarily written by experts and trusted
scholars.
• Most librarians agree that reference books are
most at risk in a digital world.
• 7 year review cycle.
Friday, March 2, 12
18. New Textbook Ideas
• Textbooks are reference manuals.
• Massive "Brain-Trust" in teaching faculty.
• Subscription Model vs. Purchasing.
• Media rich, endless examples, always up to
date.
• Flexbook and Open Textbook Initiative
Friday, March 2, 12
20. What is a CMS?
• A content management system is software that
keeps track of every piece of content on your
website.
• A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires
almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage.
• Runs on a SQL database.
• Backend functions on a cPanel, a Unix based web
hosting control panel.
Friday, March 2, 12
21. Joomla!
• Joomla is an award-winning
content management system
(CMS), which enables you to
build Web sites and powerful
online applications.
• Joomla is an open source
solution that is freely available
to everyone.
• Joomla's roots go back to 2000
and has over 200,000
community users and
contributors.
Friday, March 2, 12
22. Open Office
• Free MS Office Alternative
• Fully functional to develop
content.
Friday, March 2, 12
23. Creative Commons
Resources
• A new "copyleft license"
aimed at flexible handling of
copyright protection for all
kinds of creative work.
• Attribution
• Share Alike
• Non-Commercial
• No Derivative Works
Friday, March 2, 12
24. Wiki Commons
• A project of the Wikimedia
Foundation that is an online
repository of free-use images,
sound and other media files.
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/
• Our source for charts and
diagrams.
Friday, March 2, 12
25. Moving Forward
• eReaders, Kindles, ipads,
Nooks, Coming Tablets
• Costly $600.00 +
• Textbook reimbursement
issues.
• It’s not Rocket Science. It’s
just High School Chemistry.
• Recent Changes in NYS
Textbook Spending Rules
Friday, March 2, 12